


The Tower

by Rillian_Rohirrim



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: History, I really liked the historical part and it made me think of this, Love, M/M, Pining, Short One Shot, through the ages, what is temptation anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21673189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rillian_Rohirrim/pseuds/Rillian_Rohirrim
Summary: Crowley and Aziraphale interact at the tower of Babel.  They care about each other but have trouble expressing such things.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	The Tower

The tower was actually Crowley's fault, although it hadn't been his intention. He had been TRYING to get local merchants to build a shrine to Beelzebub, but he wanted them to think it was their own idea, and by the end of it their own idea was even worse. Not just a little shrine to draw people off course, but a full-on cooperative construction effort to build the biggest tower in the world. Even building a tower wasn't so terrible, but the humans wanted a tower that reached all the way to God. That made Crowley fidgety. It wasn't that he believed they could succeed, but it was the sort of thing that might get angelic attention. And not just from an angel who was already on earth.

The humans seemed to be having a good time with their project. Crowley milled about at the edge of the crowd, wondering what to do. Suddenly, he heard a voice at his elbow.

"I should have known you'd be behind this. Do you expect to use it to climb your way back to heaven?" Aziraphale paused, then, more softly, continued, "They wouldn't open the gates, you know."

_Play it cool,_ thought Crowley. "Hey, angel. Here to do some holy smiting?"

"What? No, I - I was just... in the neighborhood, and... an olive merchant told me about the construction going on. I decided to investigate."

The merchant had also mentioned a man with yellow eyes lurking around the building site, but Aziraphale saw no reason to mention that to Crowley. It definitely hadn't been that tidbit which convinced him to go out to the dusty construction site in the first place.

Crowley shrugged off Aziraphale's awkward attempt at an explanation. He stared at the tower, which had risen even higher in the last few minutes of conversation. Really, it was quite impressive work for the humans. It reminded him of a tower in heaven he used to frequent to watch the stars in early days.

"I suppose Heaven will tear it down soon?" he asked, trying to sound as though he had no feelings about the tower's fate. He still sounded sad.

"I suppose."

Crowley glanced at Aziraphale and saw the angel looking at the tower somewhat wistfully.

"It really is a beautiful tower, and the humans have worked so hard on it." Aziraphale sighed. "Perhaps if they were to stop working to reach heaven and learned to be content with their state on earth, it might be allowed to stand." He knew most of the angels would have no qualms turning the tower to dust, but it was nice to hope. Maybe things could be allowed on earth that would not stand in heaven.

He looked at Crowley.

"Well. I'd best be off," the demon murmured. He still expected brimstone to start falling from the sky any minute, but he lingered a moment longer. "You staying in the area?"

"Oh, I... I was only planning to be here for a short time. Perhaps I'll go north and meet some of the local shepherds." He hesitated, then almost nonchalantly added, "I wouldn't stay here much longer if I were you. Some of my side will be coming soon, and I wouldn't want you to - I mean, you wouldn't want to be caught here when they arrive."

"Don't worry about me, angel." The peace sign had not been invented yet, but if it had been, Crowley would have thrown it up. Instead, he winked at Aziraphale, hoping that would convey nonchalance, and began to saunter off. Once he believed himself out of Aziraphale's sight, he sighed so deeply that it seemed there could be no more air left in his lungs. 

After a moment's consideration, he decided to head north and try to tempt some local shepherds. That would let him stay close enough to hear what happened with the tower, but be far enough away to not get brimstoned, should it come to that. He could just as easily go west, but north sounded like a good idea for some reason.


End file.
